February 24, 2008
By Amanda Cuda
acuda@ctpost.com
Seemingly every week, well-heeled locals gather for drinks, hors d'oeuvres and conversation. Some of the shindigs celebrate the opening of a new business. Some parties celebrate notable people in the region.
Others are fundraisers meant to scare up money for worthy causes.
But the gathering at the Westport Arts Center earlier this month was a different animal.
Oh, sure — it looked like every other Fairfield County cocktail party. There were drinks, and chitchat and trays of appetizers. But something was different.
For one thing, the refreshments served at this event had a social conscience. The wine came from California-based Benziger Family Wineries, which specializes in organic farming. The appetizers were also organic and came from Mindful Chef in Westport.
But the biggest difference was in the conversation — not cocktail party small talk, but big talk. Talk about topics like sustainable farming, solar energy and environmentally sound development.
Patrons also picked over a table near the bar, which was covered in literature about these topics and others.
No, this wasn't just another Fairfield County cocktail party. This was a Fairfield County GreenDrinks party.
Fairfield County GreenDrinks is a social networking group that meets monthly, allowing environmentally conscious people from around the region to get together, have a drink and talk about the planet.
"The purpose, really, is to get everyone from different sectors into a common space to exchange ideas, brainstorm and network to progress the green movement," said the group's moderator Heather Burns-DeMelo, of Woodbury.
Burns-DeMelo, who showed up at the Westport event appropriately clad in a green blouse and matching
jewelry, is editor of the Hartford-based environmental publication AllGreen Magazine and has long been interested in environmental issues. In 1999, she spearheaded a Save the Reef program in Thailand, hoping to educate local fishermen about the negative effects of over-fishing in the area.
But, like many people, her passion for helping the planet was ignited anew after she saw the global warming-focused documentary "An Inconvenient Truth." The film convinced Burns-DeMelo that she had to do something more.
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